Device for manufacturing light weight building boards



M y 16, 1967 5. J. VAN ELTEN 3,319,814

DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING LIGHT WEIGHT BUILDING BOARDS Filed Jan. 5 Sheets-Sheet l 5 Sheets-5heet 2 my KW a. J. VAN ELTEN DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING LIGHT WEIGHT BUILDING BOARDS Filed Jan. 7, 1965 HHHD 8 mlllilll i x J l m it a J mw w 1 in 7 m m m 0 w m t m m U m m y G. J. VAN ELTEN DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING LIGHT WEIGHT BUILDING BQARUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 7, 1965 May W9 W7 G.J.'VAN ELTEN 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan.

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DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING LIGHT WEIGHT BUILDING BOARDS Filed Jan. 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent Ofiice 3,319,814 DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING LIGHT WEIGHT BUILDING BOARDS Gerrit Jan Van Elten, 1 Tromplaan, Voorthuizen, Netherlands Filed Jan. 7, 1965, Ser. No. 424,001 Claims priority, application Germany, .I an. 8, 1964, E 26,184 2 Claims. (Cl. 214-408) The present invention is related to a method of manufacturing light weight building boards, and more particularly of light weight building boards consisting of a mixture of wood wool fibres and a binding agent.

Light weight building boards of the type described are manufactured in that wood Wool, mixed with a binding agent, such as cement, is filled into forming plates by means of a filling machine which corresponds to the prior Patent No. 3,096,227. In this filling machine the forming plates filled with the material of the building boards are prepressed. The single forming plates are arranged in a row one behind another and at their longitudinal edges have side rims which may be rigidly fastened to the forming plates or loosely laid on them. When the light Weight building boards have been prepressed in the forming plates they are, together with their forming plates taken to a press in which they are piled up and compresed. After a primary setting time of, for instance, 24 hours the boards are removed from their forming plates.

The removal of the light weight building boards, which after their primary setting stage have not yet completely hardened from their forming plates, has so far been carried out in a manual way throughout. Depending on the size of the board, this requires employment of a smaller or larger number of workmen, which causes a larger outlay in wages and substantially increases the manufacturing cost. Besides, the boards being not completely hardened up, are easily damaged by this method.

It is an important object of the invention to automatically remove the light weight building boards out of their forming plates and afterwards pile them up.

It is a further object to provide a method by which the light weight building boards are removed without damage from their forming plates, even in the event of their sticking to the bottom of the forming plates.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a method by which the emptied forming plates are in an automatic manner carried to another stage of processing and the light weight building boards, on being ejected from the forming plates are piled up one On top of the other.

Yet another object is to provide a device by which the method according to the invention can be carried out.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the device according to the invention, which is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a scheme diagram of the working process of the method according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the diagram of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a device for carrying out the method according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the device of FIG. 3 in its initial position;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the device of FIG. 3 in its unloading position.

The method according to the invention essentially consists of the process in which the compressed and settled light weight building boards are removed from 3,3l9,8l4 Patented May 16, 1967 their forming plates in that the uppermost plate of a pile of forming plates is fed to an emptying device which seizes the plate and, in turning it by approximately around a horizontal axle, throws the boards on a pile. Thereupon, the emptied forming plate is swung back to be deposited on a conveyor, which carries it to a piling device or to a feeding machine.

At the end of the turning motion the invention provides for advantageously a pressure to be exerted on the outer surface of the bottom of the forming plate, while at the same time the side rims of the forming plate are kept rigid. This causes the bottom of the plate to bend in inward direction and the side rims to slightly move in external direction. As a result, the light weight building board is at those points where it adheres to the bottom of the plate detached from the forming plate without any damage being done to itself or to the plate. To facilitate the process of detachment, one may at the end of the turning motion have a shaking motion additionally operating on the side rims.

The method according to the invention effectuates the emptying of the forming plates and the piling up of the detached boards in an automatic manner so that it does not require any manual labour.

With reference to FIGURES l and 2 of the drawings 1 is a pile of forming plates or moulds filled with light weight building boards which have left the filling machine before about 24 hours and have not yet completely hardened. Mounted on a frame 2 is a roller track 3, which is connected to a driving motor not shown in the drawings and carries pile 1. Supported on a liftable feeding device 4 is another pile 5 arranged behind pile 1 which also consists of forming plates filled with light weight building boards. Behind the piles 1 and 5 and on top of them a roller track 8 is arranged which is used to remove the forming plates 6 on being emptied of the light weight building boards. The roller track 8 has a horizontal portion, which is coupled with a driving device, and an oblique portion, which is not driven and forms a continuation of the horizontal portion.

The emptying of the forming plates from their light weight building boards is effectuated by means of an emptying device, which will further below be described with reference to FIGURES 3 to 6. This emptying device seizes the uppermost plate of pile 5 and turns it by approximately 180 around a horizontal axle 36, at which the board which in the terminal position of the emptying device falls out of its plate, forms a pile 7. Upon emptying of the mould (plate) the emptying device is swung back around axle 36 and the empty plate 6 is put down on roller track 8, on which the emptied plates 6 are conveyed to a piling device or to the filling machine, which latter is not shown in the drawings and in which they are refilled with the Wood wool and concrete mixture out of which another building board is formed.

It the forming plates 6 have loose side rims 9 these are laterally thrown off by means of a V-shaped guiding surface 10 and are taken to a feeding apparatus lll which supplies the loose rims 9 into the magazine of a further processing stage.

The light weight building boards ejected from the forming plates 6 and deposited on the pile 7 are by means of a pallet '12, which takes up the pile 7, conveyed to a storage place 13 .where they stay for the time required for further setting and hardening.

The construction of the emptying device for the forming plates shall now be further described with reference to FIGURES 3 to 6.

The pile 5 of the forming plates filled with the building boards is supported by the feeding device 4, which consists of two parallel conveyor chains as shown in FIGURE 4. Interposed between the two conveyor chains 4 is a traverse 14 to carry their bearings. The piston rod 15 of a hydraulic cylinder 16, which is connected to a pipe for supply of pressure liquid not being shown in the drawing, via a fork 14a engages on the central portion of traverse 14. By supplying a pressure liquid to cylinder 16, traverse 14, together with feeding device 4 carrying the pile 5, can be raised so far that the uppermost forming plate of pile 5 is approximately level with roller track 8. The lift of pile 5 is limited by a terminal switch 17, which is adjustable in its height and is approximately in the center of pile 5 arranged on a frame 21 carried by a trestle 18. Fastened to the middle of trestle 18 is a holding device 19 by which the upper portion of pile 5 receives in its central part a vertical guidance and during the pushing-off of the uppermost forming plate is given a horizontal support. Symmetrically arranged at both sides of terminal switch 17 are feeding arms 20, which are mounted on frame 21, swinging around a horizontal axle 22 each, and at their free ends carry a claw 23 each. The claw 23 has a feeler 24, the shape of which is swung in upward direction and which rests on the uppermost forming plate 25 of pile 5. This plate is shown by a dotted line in the drawings. Further, claw 23 is provided with an abutting edge 26 which laterally bears against side rim 9 of the forming plate.

The piston rod 27 of a hydraulic cylinder 28 engages the axles 22 of the two feeding arms and thus shifts the axles 22 parallel of the forming plates. The hydraulic cylinder 28 is mounted in frame 21 at the point shown by number 30, around which it can be turned. Axles 22 are guided in a rail 29 in which they can move in horizontal direction.

-Both ends of traverse 14 are provided with electric switches 31, which stop the drive of feeding device 4, when pile 5 has from its position of pile I arrived in the exact center of trestle 18. By this arrangement it is ensured that pile 5 always assumes its central position within trestle 18. In addition, any forming plates of pile 5, which should not be in a straight position, are kept in their correct height by holding device 19, in connection with feeding arms 20 and terminal switch 17. The feeding arms 20 are of an inclined position so that with increasing pull of the hydraulic cylinder 28 the claw 23 is more strongly pressed on the upper part of the forming plate to be emptied and therefore cannot jump oft.

Within supporting frame 18, there is a bracket 32 on which a plurality of power-driven rollers 33 and 34 are rotatably mounted, the upper sides of which are level with the uppermost forming plate 25 to be emptied.

Beside the rollers 34, an emptying device 35, which can be turned around a horizontal axle 36, is mounted on trestle 18. Coaxial to axle 36 is arranged a shaft 37, fastened to which are a plurality of parallel frames 38. At their near side of shaft 37, the single frames 38, which can be turned around axle 36, carry a nose 39 each, and at their far side of shaft 37 they are provided with a jaw 40 each.

By the two feeding arms 20, the uppermost forming plate 25 of pile 5, which is to be emptied is via the rollers 33 and 34 pushed on the turning frames 38 of the emptying device 35, which at the beginning of the working cycle has a horizontal position since the roller track 8 is in a slightly lowered position. After the forming plate 25 has reached its terminal position on the turning frames 38, the jaws 40 by a hydraulic cylinder 41 coupled with them are turned to adopt the position shown in the drawing, which causes the noses 39 and jaws 40 to enclose the side rims 9 of forming plate 25. By subsequently pushing down the noses 39 and jaws 40 or pushing up the forming plate 25 by a rod 42 which is attached to the turning frames 38 and may be operated by a plurality of pressure pistons 43, the forming plate is clamped to frames '38 free from play.

The shaft 37 on which the turning frames 38 are mounted is connected with a driving motor not being shown in the drawing, which turns the frames 38 around axle 36 on the circular bow 44 shown in FIGURES 4- and 6 to assume the emptying position which in FIG-- URE 4 is shown in dotted lines. When the turning; frames 38 are in their emptying position, which in FIG- URE 6 is illustrated in full lines, the bottom of the forming plate is on top of the light weight building: board, which falls out of forming plate 25 and forms the pile 7.

So that the board may safely and without any damage fall out of the forming plate even in the event it adheres to the bottom of the plate, an additional pressure may be exerted on the bottom of the forming plate in the direction of its central longitudinal axis, as is shown in FIGURE 6, by means of the pressure pistons 43 attached to the outside of the bottom, which jointly engage rod 42 and are operated by an auxiliary mechanism which is not shown in the drawing. As the side rims 9 of the forming plate are clamped by the noses 39 and jaws 40, the bottom of the forming plate due to the pressure of the pistons 43, bends in inward direction and at the same time the internal side of the rims 9 slightly bend in outward direction. In this manner, the board at the points of its adherence to the forming plate is assured to be detached from the forming plate without being damaged.

In lieu of the pressure pistons 43 or in addition to them one may provide a vibrating or shaking mechanism 45 on a cantilever arm 46. In the emptying position of forming plate 25, the shaking mechanism 45 primarily operates on the side rims 9 and thus ensures proper and reliable detachment of the building board from its forming plate.

When forming plate 25 has been emptied the emptying device 35 is along the circular bow 44, which is marked by the dotted lines of FIGURE 4, returned into its initial position in which the empty forming plate is deposited on roller track 8 which has been raised again in the meantime. At the same time, the noses 39 and jaws 40' are raised or the pressure pistons 43 are lowered so much that the empty forming plate 25 can be emitted from the turning frame'38 to move on the roller track 8.

After ejection of the empty forming plate 25 or simultaneously with its movement down the roller track 8, the jaws 40 are moved back into their initial position in which they are ready for reception of the next forming plate of pile 5 with the light weight building board in it.

Along the power-driven horizontal part and further down the inclined part of roller track 8 the empty mould 25 is taken to the filling machine, as this is indicated in the schematic parts of FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawing by number 6.

To ensure that the next forming plate with its building board is automatically supplied to the emptying device 25 as soon as the emptied plate has been deposited on roller track 8, a switch 47 as indicated in FIGURE 1 is provided at the roller track 8, which issues a switching impulse to hydraulic cylinder 28 when an empty forming plate passes the roller track, which causes the respective uppermost forming plate of pile 5 to be touched by claw 23, whereupon, by actuating hydraulic cylinder 28, the forming plate 25 is via the rollers 33 and 34 conveyed to the emptying device 35. The hydraulic cylinder 41, which operates the jaws 40 may also be operated in an automatic way, either by the switch 47 or by other switching devices provided in suitable parts of the apparatus. The same applies to the drive of the emptying device 35. As soon as a forming plate 25 has been laterally removed, terminal switch 17 issues an impulse to the feed valve of cylinder 16 so that pile 5 is raised by the height of one forming plate.

When all the forming plates of pile 5 have been processed through the emptying device 35, the terminal switch 17 issues an impulse to the valve by which cylinder 16 is controlled so that traverse 14 lowers itself into its initial position. Thereupon, the driving mechanism of roller track 8 carrying pile 1, receives an impulse, which causes pile 1 to be automatically moved on the feeding device 4, 14 and further into trestle 18, wherein it forms the next pile 5. As mentioned before, the pile 5 is kept in an exact position by the two switches 31, which are mounted in such a Way that they can be shifted to be adjusted to varying lengths of the building boards.

In result of the arrangement of a plurality of turning frames 38 on the emptying device 35, the latter may be used for light weight building boards of any size. Boards of small .size only require the use of the two inner frames 38 With their noses 39 and jaws 40. In this manner it is possible to use the same device for automatic removal of light weight building boards of any length and thickness from their forming plates and further processing or piling up the building boards and the forming plates.

Since the noses 39 and jaws 40 clamp on the side rims 9 during the emptying process, the device may also be used to empty moulds with loose rims. A particular advantage of the device is the bending of the forming plate during the emptying process since this ensures proper detachment even of boards which strongly adhere to their forming plates. As the feeding arms can be raised and the terminal switch 17 and holding device 19 are mounted in the exact center of trestle 18 it is also possible to properly process slightly uneven piles of forming plates.

The swinging axle of emptying device 35 may alternatively be placed lower than the forming plates to be emptied, or the emptying device may be of a different structure.

While I chose a preferential embodiment to describe my invention this shall be understood to be an example only, since there are other modifications and variations which can be carried out by those skilled in the art and which are intended to fully lie within the scope of my claims, which are:

1. An ejector for ejecting light weight building boards from forming plates comprising, a shaft mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis, a clamping frame mounted on said shaft and secured to said shaft for rotation therewith, stacking means for stacking a plurality of forming plates parallel to said shaft, means at the top of said stacking means for pushing the uppermost forming plate stacked on said stacking means from such stack onto said clamping frame, gripping means on said clamping frame, means for moving said gripping means into gripping engagement with said forming plate on said clamping frame, means for turning said shaft and said clamping frame with said forming plate gripped thereon about said horizontal axis from a first horizontal position at one side of said axis in which said forming plate is pushed onto said clamping frame to a second horizontal reversed position at the opposite side of said axis, conveyor means at said opposite side of said axis for receiving a light weight building board ejected from said forming plate in said horizontal reversed position, means for turning said shaft and said clamping frame from said second horizontal reversed position at said opposite side of said axis to said first horizontal position at said one side of said axis and to a position slightly beyond said first horizontal position, and roller means at said position slightly beyond said first horizontal position for engagement with said forming plate for removing said forming plate from said clamping frame.

2. An ejector as recited in claim 1 including pressure means on said clamping frame for exerting a pressure force on said forming plate when said plate is at said opposite side of said axis to release a light weight build ing board from said forming plate.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,53 8,734 1/1951 Patterson. 2,701,071 2/1955 Cavalieri 214-308 2,835,398 5/1958 Temple at al 214-314 HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN EJECTOR FOR EJECTING LIGHT WEIGHT BUILDING BOARDS FROM FORMING PLATES COMPRISING, A SHAFT MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS, A CLAMPING FRAME MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT AND SECURED TO SAID SHAFT FOR ROTATION THEREWITH, STACKING MEANS FOR STACKING A PLURALITY OF FORMING PLATES PARALLEL TO SAID SHAFT, MEANS AT THE TOP OF SAID STACKING MEANS FOR PUSHING THE UPPERMOST FORMING PLATE STACKED ON SAID STACKING MEANS FROM SUCH STACK ONTO SAID CLAMPING FRAME, GRIPPING MEANS ON SAID CLAMPING FRAME, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID GRIPPING MEANS INTO GRIPPING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID FORMING PLATE ON SAID CLAMPING FRAME, MEANS FOR TURNING SAID SHAFT AND SAID CLAMPING FRAME WITH SAID FORMING PLATE GRIPPED THEREON ABOUT SAID HORIZONTAL AXIS FROM A FIRST HORIZONTAL POSITION AT ONE SIDE OF SAID AXIS IN WHICH SAID FORMING PLATE IS PUSHED ONTO SAID CLAMPING FRAME TO A SECOND HORIZONTAL REVERSED POSITION AT THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID AXIS, CONVEYOR MEANS AT SAID OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID AXIS FOR RECEIVING A LIGHT WEIGHT BUILDING BOARD EJECTED FROM SAID FORMING PLATE IN SAID HORIZONTAL REVERSED POSITION, MEANS FOR TURNING SAID SHAFT AND SAID CLAMPING FRAME FROM SAID SECOND HORIZONTAL REVERSED POSITION AT SAID OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID AXIS TO SAID FIRST HORIZONTAL POSITION AT SAID ONE SIDE OF SAID AXIS AND TO A POSITION SLIGHTLY BEYOND SAID FIRST HORIZONTAL POSITION, AND ROLLER MEANS AT SAID POSITION SLIGHTLY BEYOND SAID FIRST HORIZONTAL POSITION FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID FORMING PLATE FOR REMOVING SAID FORMING PLATE FROM SAID CLAMPING FRAME. 